NATO’s Procurement Arm Opens Its Doors to Ukraine’s Defence Industry
NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has announced that Ukraine’s defence industry can now take part in contracts run by the agency, after Ukraine’s accession to the Security Cooperation Support Partnership (SCSP). The announcement came on 22 October.
NSPA’s statement is explicit that the move does not make Ukraine a NATO member; it describes the step as creating a separate cooperation mechanism between Kyiv and the agency. Allies had approved the possibility in principle at the North Atlantic Council in April 2026, and today’s announcement marks that approval moving into concrete implementation.
What is the SCSP, and who belongs to it?
Set up in 2025, the SCSP’s members previously included Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and NATO Headquarters. With Ukraine’s accession, membership now stands at seven. Through the partnership, NSPA will act as an intermediary and management authority — handling requirements management, running procurement and organising delivery of goods and services for Ukrainian needs.
Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, Mstyslav Banik, said his country is the first and only non-NATO state with a partnership specifically built as an access point to NSPA’s work. NSPA’s Director of Operational Support, Jacqueline Borsboom, said the partnership would help connect Ukrainian companies with growth opportunities.
A Kyiv industry day laid the groundwork
On 14 October, NSPA held an industry day in Kyiv attended by roughly 150 Ukrainian companies — described as the first event of its kind run by a NATO entity in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Today’s SCSP announcement puts the contacts made at that event onto a formal footing.
According to NSPA, allies have provided 99 percent of the military aid given to Ukraine since 2022. The agency says it has mobilised around €400 million through the Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) trust fund, with roughly €219 million more coming from a related digital defence capabilities coalition.
Details still to come
NSPA has not named any specific contracts awarded to Ukrainian firms so far, nor has it specified which product or service categories will feature in an initial tender round, or what contract values to expect. That suggests the partnership is, for now, a framework agreement, with the actual volume of business to be defined over time.
Why it matters
Ukraine’s defence industry has built rapid innovation capacity over more than three years of war, particularly in unmanned systems, electronic warfare and low-cost munitions. Folding that capacity into NATO’s formal procurement machinery could make it easier for allies to draw directly on battlefield-tested innovation. For Ukrainian companies, the market access opened through the NSPA channel is also strategically important for keeping the industry viable once the war ends.
The move carries indirect relevance for Turkey too: this expansion of NATO’s procurement architecture is reshaping how supply chains within the alliance are structured, offering a comparison point for how Turkish defence firms position themselves within similar multilateral mechanisms.
Sources
- Infodefensa, “La industria de defensa de Ucrania podrá acceder a los contratos de la agencia de adquisiciones de la OTAN,” 22 October 2026. (Primary source; details on the NSPA-SCSP announcement, parties and background.)
